An NSA document leaked by Edward Snowden says the agency has had an inside view of North Korea's hacking capabilities since 2010. The leak was made via the New York Times.
By tunneling through Chinese networks used for North Korea's broader connectivity, the NSA was able to use malware to monitor the activities of North Korean hackers for more than four years. According to the agency, North Korea's cyber army is estimated to number 6,000.
Recall that NSA researchers recently determined that North Korean forces had gained access to Sony's system credentials. According to the FBI's announcement, they were able to explore the company's network more than two months before the leak of confidential files and emails.
Security experts were skeptical of the scant evidence released by the FBI, which confidently declared that North Korea was responsible for the Sony attack.
Leaks about the NSA's spying on North Korean networks seem to confirm the FBI's claim. But the questions that arise are many.
If the agency was really monitoring North Korean hackers so closely, shouldn't it have seen the attack? Shouldn't it have informed the company?
Unless the Sony hack is considered collateral damage by the NSA, which preferred not to reveal its actions rather than protect the company.
Whatever the case, Sony has not yet made any statements regarding the leaked document.
